The U.S. in World War II

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The U.S. in World War II
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• Section 1 Mobilizing for Defense
• Section 2 The War for Europe and North Africa
• Section 3 The War in the Pacific
• Section 4 The Home Front

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America Mobilizing for DefenseFacts About Service

• 15 million entered the service after Pearl Harbor
• 5 million volunteered
• 10 million drafted
• 2/3 of the 15 million served in the Army
• The average length of active-duty was 33 months.
  On average 16 months of these was served
  overseas.
• 292,000 U.S. servicemen were killed in battle.
• 114,000 were killed due to other causes.
• 671,000 were wounded.
• The 2000 census counted 5.7 million World War II
  veterans, of these 210,000 were women.

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Women in the Military

• WAAC - Womens Auxiliary Army Corps
• Organized by General George Marshall, Army Chief
  of Staff
• Oveta Culp Hobby, first director of WACC
• Allowed women to hold noncombat positions
• Gave women a salary, but few benefits at first
• Later became WAC Women Army Corps
• Received full benefits
• Worked as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio
  operators, electricians and pilots
• More than 13,000 women applied the first day
• A total of 350,000 served in WAAC and other
  branches

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Women Enter All Branches

• WAVES - Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency
  Service (Navy)
• WAFS - Womens Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron
• WASP Womens Air Force Service Pilots
• SPAR (Coast Guard)

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Recruiting and Discrimination

• Minority groups were in segregated units and
  usually were not allowed into much combat
• Groups
• Mexican Americans 300,000
• African Americans 1,000,000
• Asian Americans
• Chinese Americans 13,000
• Allowed for a repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act
  in 1943
• Japanese Americans 33,000
• Native Americans 25,000 (800 women)

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Office of Scientific Research and Development

• Most important of all offices created
• Made a great number of scientific and
  technological contributions
• War Weapons
• Catch up in development of high speed missiles
  and rockets
• Bazooka rocket launcher
• Atomic Bomb
• War Technology
• Improvement to Radar and Sonar
• DDT pesticide to prevent body lice
• Penicillin antibiotic that saved lives
• Semi conductors
• Computers
• Freeze Dried Food
• Synthetic materials
• See Pages 588-589

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War Production Board

• Introduced to maximize production of war material
• Curtailed or banned production of more than 300
  nonessential items
• Refrigerators
• Bicycles
• Beer Cans
• Automobiles Feb. 1942 the last car rolled off
  the assembly line
• Find other materials for nonessentials
• Convert Production
• Many industries converted to make war materials
• Auto industry retooled to make tanks, planes,
  boats, and command vehicles
• New Production
• Synthetic Rubber
• Nylon and other synthetic materials
• Organized drives to collect needed recyclable
  products like tin, scrap iron, paper, etc.

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Office of Price Administration

• Organized to fight inflation by freezing wages,
  prices, and rent
• Rationed foods, such as meat, butter, cheese,
  vegetables, sugar and coffee
• Rationing establishing fixed allotments of
  goods deemed essential for the military
• Citizens were allotted rationing coupons
• Black Market illegal market in which rationed
  items are sold are very high prices

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Paying for the War

• Revenue Act of 1942
• Raised the top personal-income tax to 88
• Added lower- and middle-income Americans to the
  income-tax rolls
• Selling War Bonds government encouraged
  Americans to purchase bonds.
• It helped fund the war
• It helped with inflation

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Women in the Workplace

• 6 million women joined the workforce
• Some thought women couldnt handle the work
• Women proved they could operate welding torches
  and rivet guns as well as men
• Women earned about 60 as much as men doing the
  same jobs

• Rosie the Riveter

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Rivete r